Aylward, Gladys (1902-1970)
British missionary in China
A housemaid born in Edmonton, north of London, Aylward went to China as an independent missionary. With little educational background, no specific abilities to commend her for missionary work, and unable to do well in some introductory mission studies, Gladys was turned down by the China Inland Mission. Despite this disappointment and no support, in 1930 she headed for China on the Trans-Siberian railway. Nearly detained in Russia, she managed to get to Tientsin (Tian-jin) and from there traveled to the province of Shansi (Shanxi) in northwest China. Learning the rough Mandarin language for the area, she identified herself with China and its people and became a Chinese citizen in 1936. She gained the favor of the mandarin of the city of Yancheng (Jincheng), who appointed her an inspector to help enforce the local government’s edict against binding the feet of young girls.
The late 1930s were days of strife, as government forces fought against the Japanese and Communists. In this chaotic context Aylward gathered many orphans into a home and in 1940 led them on a perilous journey to safety in Sian (Xian), capital of the neighboring province of Shensi (Shaanxi), 240 miles west-southwest of Yangcheng. She retuned to England during World War II, went back to China in the late 1940s, and then continued work with needy children in Taiwan through the Gladys Aylward Children’s Home until nearly the time of her death.
This article is reprinted from Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions, Macmillan Reference USA, copyright © 1998 Gerald H. Anderson, by permission of Macmillan Reference USA, New York, NY. All rights reserved. By Ralph R. Covell.
Bibliography
R. O. Latham, Gladys Aylward, One of the Undefeated: The Story of Gladys Aylward as Told by Her to R.O. Latham (1950)
Catherine Swift, Gladys Aylward: The Courageous English Missionary (1989)
Phyllis Thompson, London Sparrow (1971)
Alan Burgess, The Small Woman (1957).